In construction equipment it is often necessary to couple a tube, such as a fluid line, to another housing or other such mating member for transfer of fluid between the tube and housing. Typically, the tube includes sealing means relative to the housing to prevent loss of fluid. Preferably, safeguards are employed to prevent damage of the sealing means during installation of the tube with the housing.
One example of such a fluid coupling is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,311. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,311, a coupling assembly is disclosed in which a pair of clamping bands are provided that clamp about a tube via a first set of fasteners. The fastened clamping bands are then clamped to a housing via a second set of fasteners to maintain the tube in fixed relation relative to the housing. Although such a coupling is superior over prior art couplings, examples of which include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,522,433, 4,588,309, 4,603,886 and 4,615,812 and French Patent No. 1,420,486, some applications require a coupling having a reduced overall envelope.
In some engine applications where both assembly and installation working space are restricted, it is desirable to minimize the overall coupling envelope to fit within the limited space available, such as within the envelope of a housing portion. It is desirable as well to minimize the number of fasteners required to assemble the coupling to ease assembly and installation of the coupling. The present invention is therefore directed to providing one or both of the aforementioned features in conjunction with a fluid coupling.